Void's Darkness
by brokenkitty95
Summary: In the wake of Void's potential return, things begin to go missing. Jay realizes he must help Lara prepare to aid him in getting rid of Void for good, but other forces may have different plans.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Lara walked to the outside of Jordan's house, rubbing her eyes and shrugging her wings. She was tired and itchy, and frankly, she wanted to tug Jay back into the cabin to get some rest before she decided to go against centuries of familiarity and start ripping her wings apart. It was never a comfortable time of year when this happened. Jace was just lucky he didn't have feathery wings to deal with, otherwise he would probably have spent hours whining about it still. The cabin's floor, however, was covered in white feathers from her morning of trying to pluck them enough to sate the feeling of itchiness.

Begrudgingly, she let her feet drag her over to Jay and Jordan. Jay was laughing, though Jordan looked less than happy. Inwardly, Lara wondered what had sparked their conversation. Polaris would probably be shedding her scales, but Jordan had learned already that he could melt them down to make armor. QuickSilver might have been, too, but Jordan would likely treat his scales the same. Maybe Jay had pulled a prank? There didn't seem to be anything odd, though.

"What's the matter, Jordan?" Jay mocked, "This is the best _season_."

 _No, it's horrible, Jay, don't even—_

Jordan groaned. "They're in heat, you dick!"

 _Oh. Right. She's a dragon. QuickSilver's creation must have encouraged those hormones…_ Lara rolled her wings again, turning her attention to the two men. "What's up? Why's Jordan yelling? What did you do?" She inquired.

Jay's laughter was nearly hysteric, and he looked like he was holding himself together with his arms coiled around his stomach. Jordan's face was turning a shade of red, either from embarrassment or from anger with Jay. "Dragon… has… in… heat…!" Jay managed to blurt out through his laughter.

"O-Oh," Lara mumbled, cheeks turning red.

"Still… haven't been out," Jay added, face changing color due to air loss, "now… need… air…"

Lara reached over, patting his back. She was too tired to try anything else, and the constant _itch_ she wanted to sate wasn't helping her ability to focus her healing. Lack of air due to laughing was never something she'd attempted to heal, though, so she doubted she would be able to regardless.

 _I want to sleep. Sleep… under that nice blanket Jay stole… that would be warm and nice, and…_

"If you die, I'm stealing back that heavy blanket you stole from me," she warned.

"I… needed… more," he gasped, "Jordan… fuck with me… permanent…"

She wasn't certain what he meant, but Jordan raised a brow at him. With a sigh, she shook her head and started turning Jay forcibly around, pointing him in the direction of the tree. "I wouldn't worry too much, Jordan," she offered, tossing a brief glance in the Mianitee's direction, "mating season is short for dragons. I-If you'd like, there are bedrooms at Mianite's temple. You could use one… or maybe move in with Tucker and Sonja for the duration."

Jay started laughing again. "Don't disturb them while they are 'busy,'" he teased, still walking in the direction Lara had started pushing him toward.

Jordan offered a quick "thanks" and left. Lara turned her attention to Jay, trying to distract herself from the tingling in her wings and the way they flicked outward to try, in vain, to get rid of the obnoxious feeling in them.

"You shouldn't laugh at his embarrassment," she scolded.

Jay waved his hand dismissively. "I laughed because I did it," he corrected before adding with audible disgust, "damn, can you get this? My wings itch."

"Where does it itch?" She asked, raising a brow and a hand.

"Just everywhere," he said sarcastically, "plus, my feathers are falling. With their pointy tips, they impale anything I'm flying over."

Lara blinked, giving him a curious look as she turned her attention to his wings. "Has this happened to you before?"

"This god-awful sickness? No. Otherwise, I could deal with it," he answered. He reached around to snatch one of his wings, but it moved out of his way. Lara ducked back to avoid getting cut by his feathers as they bristled uncomfortably.

"These wings feel no pain, so they make me suffer," he grumbled.

 _So… a void-born like Jay can have this happen, too? Why hasn't it happened to him before now?_ She wondered.

She shook her head, offering a small laugh. "Let's go back to the house and I'll explain there. It'll be easier on both of us to be sitting down while we talk."

"This doesn't sound good," Jay muttered. There was something light and eager about his voice, despite the words. It took Lara a moment to realize, but she understood it after a few seconds, why Jay suddenly relaxed and walked without the weight he seemed to have been carrying for months. Lara had said _the_ house, not her house or her cabin. It was almost funny how that little distinction meant so much to him, but she could tell that it meant everything.

"No, it isn't. I'm sorry, you're dying," she joked, albeit in a serious tone, as she shook her head and continued to pull him along. She opened her mouth to add on to her teasing, but stopped when she realized he was tense again.

 _Oh… right, he doesn't… know about this, does he? Oh, Jay…_ She thought apologetically.

Jay's mouth audibly opened and closed a few times before he rapidly spoke, "D-Dead? Me? Die? Us?"

"No. No, Jay, I was kidding. I was joking," she corrected quickly. "No one's dying. You can't die from this. It's harmless."

"Oh…" He mumbled sheepishly, as if ashamed that he'd fallen for her lies. "Well… what is it, then?"

Lara pulled him inside of _their_ house and sat down on the bed. She scooted back to the center, patting the spot in front of her in a gesture for him to sit down. Once he did, she smiled.

"It's called 'molting.' I'm a little surprised you've never had it happen to you before. I know Jace doesn't because his wings aren't like mine, but yours…" She trailed off and then added, "maybe it's an Overworld thing."

"Molting? Wings?" He echoed, reaching back to feel for his wings. This time, his wings didn't seem to want to escape him. "They feel normal, though, aside from falling out and that horrid, itching feeling."

She nodded. "They aren't going to feel any different otherwise. Some of your old feathers just fall out so new ones can grow. Dragons do the same with their scales."

"But if I lose them… I can't fly very well fly, now can I?" He asked as she expertly ran her fingers through his feathers. It must have been painless, because he leaned into her touch like she was giving him a massage. She was careful to avoid the tips as best she could, even as she healed the tiny pin-prick holes left by the loose feathers.

"Well… no," she agreed, "but it'll only last for a little bit. It usually lasts for a day before I can start flying again."

"How long does the damn itching last?" He inquired.

He reached back and plucked a few of the feathers from his other wing, tossing them into the floor like they were knives. She made a noise of protest. Just to watch him mindlessly tear out his feathers made her own wings ache. Jay seemed to understand that his behavior was making her uncomfortable so he stopped.

"Until the feathers stop falling out," she answered hurried, slapping his hand away from the wing, "stop that. That's a bad idea."

"B-But it's fun," he whined, drooping his shoulders and wings dramatically.

"It'll only make your wings itch more because you're damaging the fleshy parts of your wings by doing that," she informed. She sighed, healing the injuries, and added, "I know you want to – believe me, _I do_ – but it won't help."

"Well, I have no idea what to do. I can't help myself! I might pluck my wings bare!"

"You won't. Because I'll make sure you don't. And when this happens again next year, you'll know how to handle it."

She listened to Jay rant a bit longer about his wings and how horrible it was. She whole-heartedly agreed with him, but it was distracting her enough from her own wings to help him with his. The way he kept leaning in to her touch, too, make her feel like her efforts were useful and wanted, and it was another way that the two of them could be close without needing to talk or fight.

"Point is, I have the ability to make this fatal. Not something I want," he finished, before turning to her with a pout and wide eyes, "you'll stay with me? _Pwease?_ "

 _You little… ridiculous Guardian, you,_ she thought, smiling, _how could I ever say no? After everything we've gone through, why would I deny you now?_

"Fine, but you'll need to relax because I will eventually need to tend to my own wings," she answered.

"Yay! Sleepover," he replied, grinning. "We can read – or write – scary stories. Roast marshmallows. All kinds of stuff!"

"I already live here. We could do that any day," she pointed out jokingly.

"I suppose you are right… but we haven't, so this is special," he countered, stretching his wings.

"If you say so," she conceded, "I don't see what's so special about it."

Jay offered an innocent smile. "Spending more time with my Lara," he replied.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes affectionately as she moved her hand away from his wing and to her own. "You're so foolish," she mumbled, "who else's would I be?"

"Didn't say Lara. I said _my_ Lara," he told her cheekily, wrapping her up in his arms. "Which means you are _mine_."

She smiled a bit as he placed his head against her shoulder. She carefully lifted a wing to keep it from being held hostage by his arms as he mumbled "mine" against her shoulder. She hummed quietly, threading her fingers through her wing in order to get rid of loose feathers.

"Wonder if I could abbreviate 'My Lara.' What do you think, Mara?" Lara sent him a sharp look. He put up his hands in surrender. "Just kidding!"

"Why do you feel the need to pet-name everything?"

"I don't know. Maybe I am a bit lazy. But you are important to me. That deserves something."

She lets go of her wing and turns her attention to him. "You're impossible, and lucky that I love you."

"Or impossibly lucky?" He suggested. She rolled her eyes and he laughed.

He turned suddenly serious and gripped her hand, tapping her pinky. "I love you, too."

Lara smiled at him, wrapping her pinky around his. She was grateful that he hadn't forgotten the promise, or what it meant. Even if he was only entertaining her concerns, he wasn't making light of her fear of being left alone. It meant the world to her.

"Maybe we're both lucky, then," she offered.

He returned her smile with one of his own. "Maybe so. If my wings are impossibly itchy and annoying, I'm glad I am here with you."

"It gets easier, I promise. If it keeps happening to you every year, then you'll just learn to groan about it and move on. That's what I do," she told him, "I should probably be happy Jace didn't have this problem. He would still be whining about it."

"Well, how come your healing power doesn't work on molting?"

"Because it's not an ailment. If your wings didn't molt, then all of your feathers would die and fall off – and then you might as well chop off your wings because they'd be useless to you."

"Well… that sucks," he admitted, "I think I can do it. With you, that is."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," she assured.

* * *

Jace frowned. He'd looked everywhere so far, and he still couldn't find his chat-pad. He couldn't recall ever taking it off, but he decided that it may not have been beyond consideration that he could have. It didn't really agree with lava – and after what happened with Furia and Amber, Jace had felt a bit wary to keep it on. He hated seeing the messages that they would publically send to one another. Just knowing that Amber had taken an interest in Furia made Jace's stomach hurt because he thought that he and Amber had been getting along alright.

Out of desperation, he went to Lara's cabin and opened the door, not quite used yet to Jay and Lara staying there together. Lara looked over at him immediately and Jay lifted his head up from her, turning to face him. Jace knew, based on the feathers covering the floor, that it was molting season, so Lara was likely uncomfortable and a bit annoyed. Jay, however, didn't ever seem to really appreciate company during his time spent with Lara.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Jace asked.

"Dick," Jay grumbled. Jace could guess that the void-born was either upset that Jace didn't molt, or he was annoyed that Jace had, in fact, interrupted. "What do you want, non-molting—?" Lara rolled her eyes, silencing Jay.

"My chat-pad's missing, asshole," Jace snapped back at him. He looked at his sister. "Lara, have you seen it? I know you still haven't gotten one back, so I thought, maybe, you might've borrowed mine."

Lara shook her head. "No, I haven't, Jace," she answered.

Jay seemed a bit apologetic now that Jace had explained. "Chat-pads suck," he conceded. He turned and started to get off of the bed, holding out his arm. "Here, take mi—"

He stopped and frowned. Jace blinked down at Jay's arm. His wrist was bare where the chat-pad normally sat, which was odd. It seemed especially so to Jay, who gave his arm a narrow-eyed look.

"I never too it off… I had it last night, strange…" He muttered, before shaking his head as if to clear it, and added, "Sorry. Don't have mine, either."

Lara looked between the two of them. "Are you sure…? You two are—chat-pads don't just disappear. You _must_ have placed them somewhere."

"I don't take the chat-pad off in case someone needs me. I must be going crazy," Jay said.

"Who would need you?" Lara joked. "You're the one everyone watches the chat-pads for recently."

Jace nodded and then offered a sigh. "I'll go retrace my steps again – but I swear I didn't leave it anywhere."

Jay mock pouted. "Tag teaming isn't fair!" He whined. "You two can be meanies."

Jace watched Lara raise a brow at Jay and he resisted the urge to frown at Jay. He was acting… off. Maybe it was just the molting. Lara had been distraught when she'd started molting. Maybe Jay just acted sillier.

"I'm going to look now," he said.

"Good luck, Jace," Lara offered.

Jace nodded and left. He glanced around for a moment before kicking off of the ground. Maybe he had left it at Tom's house?

* * *

"Batman." Lara blinked at Jay and he continued, "Jace acts like Batman. Brooding."

She shook her head, playfully whacking his arm. "Stop it, before I start pulling feathers of yours that don't need to come off," she teased, tugging just barely at one of the feathers to make a point.

"You don't need Batman, Tony," he added, pulling his wing out of her reach.

"Where do you learn all of these things? Because I clearly need to talk to whoever's telling them to you and ask them to stop," she said.

"I have informants. You don't need to know who. That's highly-classified information, Jarvis," he replied.

She huffed quietly and turned, laying down on her stomach on the bed. She grabbed a pillow to cover her head with, folding her wings inward against her spine. "You're dealing with molting by yourself."

"Jarvis can't leave Stark," he informed, "although, it would be cool if Jarvis could turn himself on."

Lara reached over, grabbing another pillow from the bed and tossing it back toward him blindly. "Jay."

"Fine," he agreed begrudgingly, laying down next to her. "Night. I will try and sleep through this."

"Yeah, I might, too," she admitted, uncovering her head enough to glance at their feather-ridden floor. "And then I have to clean up the floor."

"Later," he mumbled into a pillow, audibly drowsy. "Wake me up in a few weeks, will you?"

She turned her glance over to him and sighed. Eventually, she drew up the courage to move closer to him and smiled a bit, happy to be nearer to him. "I'll wake you when I wake up," she offered, closing her eyes.

"Better be in a couple weeks then," he warned jokingly.

She could feel him roll over onto his back, but he didn't move further from her. She was content. Comfortable. Before she could doze off completely, she opened her eyes enough to make out a warm smile on Jay's face.

"Good night," he murmured.


	2. Chapter One

_**Another chapter of the main series stories! :D**_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Jace landed outside of Declan's house. He'd checked all of his regular spots in the Nether for his chat-pad; he'd checked near Tom's house; and he'd inspected around Tucker and Sonja's house. Declan's was the only place he'd been that he hadn't double-checked, and it was only around the Portal and garden. He wasn't sure where he could have misplaced it if it wasn't at the priest's house, seeing as he had yet to really learn how to teleport like Dianite and Furia could.

He wandered around Declan's home before his gaze fell to the area behind the Nether portal. Declan was standing just beyond the portal, his back to Jace. Jace started toward him, catching the priest mumbling to himself, "Remove my plants, will you?"

"Something wrong, Dec?" He asked, drawing up next to Declan.

"My garden just suddenly disappeared. Not the dirt, but the plants, at least. Maybe it was Tom," Declan said, gesturing to the now empty plot of land where carrots, potatoes, and wheat once grew.

Jace frowned, looking out over the empty garden. Declan always put so much love and effort into his plants. Sometimes, it was relaxing even to Jace just to sit and watch as the man tended to his garden. Declan would hum and tell stories while he did it, and Jace really enjoyed the strange peace that came over him whenever he hung out with the priest.

"I wouldn't have put it past Tom, but he doesn't do that without replanting," Jace reasoned, "Yours and the community stuff's the only things Tom doesn't screw with. Intentionally."

"Well… how did it go, then?" Declan inquired before he shook his head, turning his attention to Jace as though he was trying to ignore the loss he likely felt. "Anyway, what brings you here, Jace?"

Jace blinked, looking away from what had once been a very productive garden. "Huh? Oh, right. I lost my chat-pad sometime between last night and this morning. I don't suppose you've seen it, have you?"

Declan shook his head again. "Sorry, I haven't. Perhaps the thief also took your pad?" He suggested.

"Maybe," Jace agreed. "They must've taken Jay's, too, but he was saying that he never takes it off, and Lara's a really light sleeper. I could never get away with anything as a kid; she'd always wake up when I got within five feet of her. And with them sleeping in the same place, well…"

The priest frowned. "I'll try and contact the gods, Jace. Maybe they will know who did this."

Jace nodded, noticing that Declan seemed to consider their conversation done. He kicked off of the ground and decided to leave the priest to repair his lost supplies. "I'll go see if anyone else has lost anything. Thanks, Dec."

He turned and pumped his wings, flying in the direction of Tom's base. Dianite's follower was the easiest to talk to first, since Tom was likely to be the most open with him without him attempting to pry any information out of him. Tucker and Sonja would likely be the most difficult, if only because they would probably prefer to deal with Lara or Mianite over mentioning it to Jace – though not out of spite or distaste as much as out of playful distrust. Jordan would likely tell him, too, just not as easily as Tom would.

He landed outside of Tom's base and knocked on the door. When Tom didn't immediately open the door, Jace landed and frowned. He tipped his head, reaching forward to knock again, and then stopped when he heard something move around in the house.

"Mate, is that you, Jay I'm not fallin' for the pressure plate again," a familiar voice called.

Jace snickered and waited until Tom warily approached the window. The Mianitee had a sword in his hands and was looking out at him at first with a dangerous, threatening glance. Admittedly, Jace knew that Jay would only be encouraged by the silent challenge in Tom's eyes, so he wondered why Tom even bothered to try to look so menacing when he wasn't. After a moment, the anger and threat faded from Tom's glance, and his arms lowered the sword down.

"Yeah, Jace?" Tom asked as he walked out of the house, no longer concerned about what might have been waiting for him.

"Hey, Tom," Jace greeted, waving a hand. "This is probably a really weird question, but has anything of yours gone missing recently?"

Tom nodded. "Yeah, my bed did. I died and had to find out the hard way. Why?"

Jace shook his head. "Just checking. Seems like some stuff's just… vanishing out of nowhere. My chat-pad; Jay's chat-pad; Dec's garden… By the way, you should stop by and visit Dec. He thought you might've done that to his plants."

Tom went pale and started off toward Declan's home. Despite his occasional feud with Declan or the teasing between them, the two Mianitees got along really well. "Not good! Hope you find the bastard that broke my bed!"

Jace sighed and flew off to ask the other Mianitees. Tucker and Sonja hadn't lost too much – just a few enchanted books that they had been anxious to find the time to use on weapons. Jordan lost some enderpearls, which he lamented quietly over because Polaris and the endermen were getting along so well that he didn't really want to go after them at risk of upsetting Polaris. Frustrated, Jace returned to Declan and listed off his findings to the priest so they could be passed on to the gods.

 _How can objects just disappear, with no real cause or connection between them?_ He wondered.

* * *

Jay growled as he woke up. "Ugh. Not been a week yet, has it?" He asked himself as he sat up in the bed.

A pillow suddenly smacked him and he glanced down, noticing that Lara was lying on the bed still. She was lying on her stomach with her wings sprawled out over the bed, one even resting in Jay's lap. Jay smiled a bit, but realized that he must've disturbed her sleep when he spoke and moved – and it was a surprise to him that Lara didn't like to be woken up because he'd assumed she was used to it.

"You're being loud," she groaned.

"Am not," he retorted before he laid back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, fingers idly trailing Lara's feathers.

She carefully drew her wings in against her back and rolled over onto her side, looking at him. "What's up?"

"The ceiling," he pointed out with a sly smirk forming across his face. "Beyond that, the sky."

"Well, then I suppose if there's nothing going on in that head of yours, I should be grateful," she teased in return.

"Maybe. It would be catastrophic," he joked, before changing the topic of the conversation by asking innocently, "so, I wake you up?"

She shook her head. "No, you didn't. I'm just a… really…"

Jay frowned. Lara sat up, glancing over his shoulder. He craned his neck to see what she was looking at, and noticed that she was looking out the window. Unable to understand what she had been caught off-guard by, he looked back over at her.

"What is it?"

"Did you dig up some of the saplings I planted?"

"Never. By rule, I don't mess with stuff you place."

Lara frowned. "Well, I planted them far enough away that I could see them from the bed, out of that window. They're gone."

"That's weird. Maybe someone is just joking around?" He suggested, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe," she conceded. "Maybe it's the same person who took the chat-pads, if anyone really did take them."

"Well, they're doing a pretty good job at pissing me off. No one touches my girlfriend's things," he huffed.

She shook her head at him. "They're just saplings, Jay. I can get more."

"Still, they had potential to become magic bean stalks," he joked, "we need to get whoever it is."

She nodded. "At least to get the chat-pads back," she agreed, "I guess you were right. I'd rather you and Jace have them, in case something ever happens."

He nodded back at her. "Yeah. Bastard better not ever mess with you." When his stomach knotted and twisted, giving him an uncomfortable, sinking feeling, he admitted, "I just have this… feeling this might not be good."

Lara offered him a small smile. "Don't worry. Whatever happens, we'll face it together," she assured.

He smiled. "Sounds good."

He leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the forehead before laying down. Lara smiled and got off of the bed, much to Jay's inquiry. After a moment of watching her bend to start cleaning their floor of feathers, he rolled and buried his face in a pillow, tempted to fall back to sleep.

"Hey, Jay?"

"Yeah, Lara?"

"What really happened a while ago? Back in the castle structure you had the Wizards make? I mean, I know what was going on outside, but Declan and Ianite both said there was something more going on."

Jay lifted his head immediately off of the pillow, looking over at her. Lara's gaze was on him, and innocent enough. She was just curious, but… it was killing him inside. He didn't want to scare her or worry her.

"Y-You mean when I was possessed?" He managed to ask, turning his gaze away from hers. Sometimes, it was as though her eyes could crack vaults. "I-It was a little fuzzy."

"I'm pretty sure you're lying," she pointed out, "but it's fine. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

He hesitated a moment, feeling like she was pulling a trick on him and trying to trip him up. He sighed. "No, you deserve to know," he admitted, "sit down. It is a doosie."

She nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Jay closed his eyes, keeping silent for a moment. He didn't know what he was waiting for – maybe to hear Lara insinuate that he should continue, but she was keeping quiet. After a moment longer, he felt a hand run comfortingly between his wings, rubbing gently against his back.

"The guy that attacked you was my creator," he started, "I thought he had died… We… We were in a battle for a long time… Maybe a week? I don't know the time difference."

"Two days," she supplied.

He nodded. "Well, we were locked in battle. For a while there, I was defenseless. The darkness did not know who to obey. He said he would torture y—" Jay choked up.

"Jay," Lara breathed, giving him a sympathetic look.

He frowned. "I had to resort to a few dirty tricks. I don't think I could have won otherwise," he finished, "but… he isn't dead."

"What…?" She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "But I-I thought…?"

"That I won? I did. As best as I could have. What is darkness' natural enemy?" He inquired.

"Light," she answered immediately. Jay watched her face as she seemed to realize what she'd said, and probably why he hadn't wanted to tell her. "Me," she corrected herself.

Jay frowned. "Much as I hate to say it. I will be there with you… We can train in the meanwhile," he offered.

She nodded. "Okay."

"So, when to start? We will learn hand to hand, then you light abilities."

"Well," she said, "I suppose sooner is better than later. And, what better time to practice than one without the temptation of flight if you frustrate me?"

Jay grinned at her. "Yeah, let's head outside."


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"Your best strategy is to start defensive. Let them tire out," Jay started as they exited the cabin and walked into the nearby clearing.

Lara nodded, trying not to mind the strange itch underneath her skin. She supposed it was either an after-effect of molting that she'd previously always slept through, or it was just the reaction to the pressure she knew was on her to perform well. She'd watched Jace fight in the past, so she knew typical behaviors of fighting – but she'd never found a real need to do it. A quick stab or slice would take down most mobs, but… Void wasn't a mob – he was a god. Of course he'd be more difficult than a skeleton or zombie.

"Alright," she acknowledged as she tucked her wings closer in to her back, deciding it was best to keep them out of the way.

"If they are mad, you have a better chance. Block and counter. If I go for a blind strike with my right hand, you duck and punch me in my defenseless areas."

"Defenseless areas…?"

"Stomach. Give 'em a foot to the knee. Knock their legs out from under them. And if they are a guy—" Jay smirked. "Hit 'em where it hurts."

She blinked at him and then nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay. So, start off defensively, block and counter, aim for areas of lower defense," she repeated to herself, before offering him another nod. "I've got it."

He nodded back at her. "Keep vigilant. Those with powers can follow up a strike with a power-based attack," Jay warned.

 _Jay, you're forgetting that I'm incredibly—_ She opened and closed her mouth, frowning to herself. _No. This is no time to get cocky. How many times have I seen Jace's ego backfire on him? I may be proud of my speed and agility, but I wasn't able to predict everything with Void when he controlled Jay before. I backed myself into a corner…_

"Probably best to stay on my toes about an enemy that can teleport as well, isn't it?" She joked.

Jay smiled. "Now you got it. Let's do a quick spar."

He raised his fists and shifted his footing. Lara took in his stance and shakily copied it, wings instinctively flicking before coming to relax again. Jay seemed to wait until she was more confident in the stance before he ran toward her, swinging one of his fists out toward her head. By the height of his hand, it looked like it would just go over her, but she ducked regardless, recalling his warning. The motion felt fluid enough that she dared to try to strike out at his stomach, but he moved just out of her range, successfully dodging the blow.

"Not bad, Lara," he laughed, running toward her.

She recognized the way he was carrying himself to be that of the intention to tackle her immediately and hopped to the side, smiling to herself. It wasn't the same position Jace would take when he went to lunge for her, even still, but it was the same posture Void had when he had tried to grab her from across the bed in Jay's other home.

"That's a move I know," she said proudly.

He slipped in the shadows. "Watch for a teleporting opponent," he reminded her as he appeared from behind, throwing a punch in her direction.

Just before the punch could make contact, she ducked down and glanced up at his fist. _I heard that,_ she realized. Recognizing that she was supposed to be moving, she whirled around to aim her foot in the direction of his ankle.

He smiled, though she felt a bit frustrated that the blow didn't knock him off of his feet. She supposed it made sense, though, that it didn't. Despite having the most energy, Lara wasn't battle-trained like Jay was. She wasn't meant to take blows or to give them. Jay had resistance against physical attacks because he had been taught to withstand them. Jay was physically stronger than she was – and that knowledge brought unbidden the reminder of his hands around her throat, closing off her windpipe, trying to—

She rolled back, barely avoiding a rather cheap shot. Jay had brought his knee up to hit her while she was distraction. "That wasn't fair," she accused.

"Void is not fair," he pointed out. "He will do whatever necessary."

"You could've warned me about that," she said.

"I did earlier," he informed her.

"No, you said that you used cheap tricks, not Void," she countered.

"No, I am pretty sure I warned you he would do that. He tied me down," he said.

She looked up at him, fighting the beginning of burning behind her eyes. _Jay… how much did he put you through?_ She wondered as she bit her bottom lip. _What else happened during those two days? What… What am I fighting against? Will I even be enough? What if I can't do it…?_

"You… You didn't mention that," she told him quietly when her voice managed to return to her.

"Sorry, didn't want to worry you," he said sheepishly, offering her an apologetic smile.

She nodded, and then, just because he was distracted, punched at his stomach. He barely moved out of the way, but her fist still collided with his ribs. Thankfully, she didn't feel anything move abnormally under her effort, though she realized that went to prove her strength wasn't as good as his or Jace's.

"Good cheap shot," Jay groaned.

"I thought I would return the favor," Lara informed.

"That was a good one. Let's move on to powers," he said.

"Do you want me to heal you first?" She asked, already drawing to her feet and raising a hand.

He shrugged. "Sure. Then we have some training to do."

She nodded and pressed a hand gently above the area her fist had met. A soft golden glow emitted from her palm and faded a moment later. Lara kept her hand there for a few seconds before she pulled it away, stepping back. "Ready."

"How much do you know about your powers over light?" He asked.

"Not enough to do anything major," she admitted, "If I can touch something in the dart, at a small distance away from me, I can destroy the shadows around it, but I don't… know how to project it and I've never been able to make anything larger than around my hands." _Although, I don't know how I did what I did when we apparently first met so long ago, Jay._

Jay nodded. "When I use my powers, I always have to two things – a will and a reason. For example, my reason would be you."

Lara felt her cheek heat up. Somehow, he always found time to flatter her. "O-Okay."

"Now, realize you are very powerful. The light is truth. It can burn, blind, heal, kill, save, and do just about anything. Light is the reason for your speed."

She hummed in acknowledgement. "Powerful," she repeated, fighting back the urge to grimace. _But I'm not. If I am, you would never have been hurt in the first place, Jay. I would've protected you. I couldn't. I can't. I… I'm weak. You're powerful. Jace is powerful. Polaris is powerful. I'm not._

She offered a smile, despite her thoughts, and tried to look confident. "Right."

"Don't doubt yourself or you have already lost. Confidence, not cockiness," he told her.

"I'm not being cocky," she retorted.

"You're not being confident, either," he argued.

He turned and gestured in the direction of one of the trees. It was a young one – one of the few she had planted only about a decade ago that still stood and produced a bushel of apples for her every season. As of yet, she hadn't gotten around to picking the recent batch of them. She would have to soon.

"Now, burn that tree," he ordered her.

"B-But… the tree didn't…" She let her voice trail off. No matter how much she questioned him, it wasn't worth the fight. She could replant the tree, but it would be sad to lose all of the apples and since the tree was so young, it felt like betrayal. It hadn't done anything to her or to Jay.

With a sigh to attempt to keep from snapping at him, she focuses her attention on the tree – but nothing happened. Frustration bubbled up inside of her again. Why wasn't it lighting on fire? Jace made it look so easy. Just look at something and poof! Fire. Not to mention Jay could easily slip into the shadows, and Polaris and QuickSilver could effortlessly shift between dragon- and human-form without a single issue. Why was she the one to have problems?

Jay sighed. "Don't focus on pyrokinesis and its negatives. Balance it with the positives," he said, as though he thought she was trying too hard, or maybe not hard enough.

"What positives are there to lighting a tree on fire?" She asked, annoyed. "It could light the others on fire, or it could not burn completely and then I'll have to come out and clean up the remains to plant a new one."

"The positives of fire!" He approached the tree and plucked an apple from it. "If I said this apple is poisoned and you had to eat it, how would you feel?"

"Ill," she answered.

He laughed. "Funny, but would you want to eat the apple?"

"No," she said, "why would I want to be poisoned?"

"But if I told you this apple was the only thing that would save you, and the second bite is the antidote. What then?"

"Maybe I'd take the second bite, but what does it matter? I wouldn't take the apple in the first place, therefore, I would never be poisoned to begin with."

"But it was the only thing able to save you," he reminded her.

"From the poison that it gave me," she accused.

"No, not from the poison. It was a dangerous weapon. Poison was an effect," he said.

She looked away, frustration growing. "I don't understand what this is meant to teach me of the benefits of fire," she told him.

"It's meant to show you light is a double-sided blade," he informed.

"That's a foolish analogy," she muttered.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him shake his head. Likely, he was as frustrated as she was, but Jay was better at keeping it hidden than she was. "Sorry, Lara. I know you don't like fighting. I can take care of him. I'm going to take a nap."

He clenched his fist and the tree suddenly exploded, causing Lara to jump and turn her gaze immediately in his attention. Something boiled in her as she watched him turn and start to walk back toward the cabin. She growled inwardly, glaring at his back.

 _You destroyed that tree! I spent a decade tending to it – caring for it, watering it, picking apples from it to make sure it would continue to grow them. I… Why couldn't you just be a better teacher? Why couldn't you just explain things more rationally? You're damn lucky I love you, and that my wings aren't functional enough for me to drag you to the ocean! You're the one who started this! It's your mess, and I just so happen to be 'blessed' to handle it! You… You…!_

"Don't turn your damn back on me," she shouted, eyes flashing gold as a board of the cabin lit on fire. Her vision instantly brightened and expanded, causing the colors to seem more vivid and everything to become clearer.

Jay stopped walking, turning to face her with a smirk on his face. "Come on, Lara. Let's dance," he challenged. The shadows lengthened behind him and slowly his smirk changed to a smile. "Maybe now, we can get somewhere!"

Lara blinked over at him and then nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. _Were you doing that intentionally to push me to that limit…? I guess it worked._

"Well. I won't hesitate, agreed?" He asked, though it looked to her that he was already prepared a strike.

The knowledge that he would be fighting her in a position that was likely now more dangerous to him was enough to smother the boil in her veins. "What if I hurt you?" She asked. "You're still of the Void, Jay, I could kill you by accident."

He shrugged. "You could. Light burns, but I can handle it."

"If you're sure," she conceded reluctantly.

He nodded. "For the most part. The last reason I told you about? Use it as a tether. For this practice, I am Void," he stated.

 _You… are not Void,_ she thought, but laughed and bowed playfully all the same. "Of course, All-powerful Void," she teased, and then rolled her eyes. "How can I pretend that? You're not scary. Void is powerful and horrifying. He's the monster from my childhood stories, and you—you're not."

Jay smirked. "Well, let's change that."

A cloak rose from the ground, covering him. When he held out his hand, a double-sided scythe rose out from the shadows. He closed his fist around it and held it dangerously in front of himself.

"I am death itself," he declared, though his voice was a perfect imitation of the voice she had heard in the memories Ianite had shown them.

Lara's laughter faded immediately, and the light still surrounding her dimmed, moving in close to wrap around her as she instinctively began to retreat from him. Despite knowing it was Jay, some large part of her mind snapped back to the stories Mianite had told her and the knowledge that even Mianite was so afraid of Void that he had wiped her memories just to oblige him. If Mianite was afraid of him – if a god was afraid of him – then what bravery could she show? Especially to the man who had harmed Jay and Declan, and who had almost succeeded in taking her life?

"No holding back," he stated, appearing next to her.

Lara jumped to the side. "Jay… Jay, I was… I was kidding," she offered nervously, "really, there's… there's no need to do this…"

His hand reached out, cupping her chin. Lara's eyes lingered on how strangely pale his hand was, when she had grown so used to his tan skin. As cold as Jay could be at times, the hand touching her was impossibly cold. She swallowed past the knot forming in her throat and looked up at him, trying to force herself not to tremble. Suddenly, it was incredibly difficult to think of the man in front of her as Jay, and part of her feared Void had taken control again.

"Darkness will smother the light," he rasped.

His hand moved a bit and she flinched, thinking back to the last time _Void_ had touched her. He'd choked her, broken her wings, tried to kill her. He would've succeeded, if not for Declan. Her wings pressed against her spine before they snapped out reflexively.

 _I'm too old to be afraid of ghosts,_ she told herself. _And you don't get to touch me._

"No," she snapped, gold light flaring in her eyes as light shot out to cover a larger area, pouring just past them. "It won't. You won't hurt me or anyone I love ever again."

"Darling. What can you do about it? Coming from a flashlight that barely glows," he mocked.

She glared at him. "A flashlight?" She echoed, light spilling out further and brightening more. "I'll show you a flashlight."

"Show me it, so I can laugh for the first time in years," he taunted.

"Laugh at this," she snarled.

The light brightened to the point where Lara had to squint in order to make out even the closest shapes. Everything was a blur of white light, and even as the light faded some, the colors were fuzzy. Her skin felt warm and every nerve felt lit up like pinpricks. After a moment, the world seemed to come back to her. When it did, she noticed that Jay was lying on the ground, shirt nearly burnt off of him. The façade he had worn was completely gone, but he had been harmed just as she had feared, and that caused panic to rush through her. She stumbled back a pace, shoving her hands behind her back when she realized that the light around her wasn't gone.

"Jay," she called.

Smoke curled off of him as he continued to lay in the ashes that had been the majority of his shirt, as well as the grass that had been caught in the fray. His only response was a weak groan, likely more to acknowledge he was alive and had heard her than it was anything else.

"Jay, I'm so sorry! I should've turned your offer down. I-I should've insisted that we not do this because I was right, you got hurt because of me," Lara blurted out, shakily bringing her hands in front of her and looking down at them. "Go away. Go away, I need to heal him, please…"

Jay slowly sat up. "No… you did the right thing," he managed. He gestured to his lower body and added half-heartedly, "part of me was out of range."

She looked up at him and whimpered, tears filling her eyes. "I-I don't know how to make it s-stop," she told him. "Why… w-won't it go away?"

"Y-You discovered your potential… Just will it to."

"I-I can't…"

 _What if I fail? What if I'm stuck like this? What if I can never heal you, and you die? Or Void takes you over? Or I can't stop Void? Or—_

"Remember… you control the light, not the other way around."

She gave a shaky nod and looked back down at her hands. They were so warm. She closed her eyes and focused on other things. How nice the coolness of the water was; how nice the sky was in the daylight. How nice the color of them was – blue. Like Jay's eyes; the eyes of the man she loved, who kept her happy and safe. She let out a deep breath and felt the warm in her hands vanish, replaced by the soothing murmur of healing she was familiar with.

Jay grunted. "Nice on, by the way," he congratulated.

Lara walked over to him and placed her hands over his injuries. The golden light faded from her eyes, causing her vision to return to normal. "Yeah, well… I had a good teacher," she replied.

"Thank you, very much. Let's go in. I need a new shirt anyway," he said.

Lara started to nod, but she stopped when she glanced over his shoulder. The cabin – or what had once been the cabin – was consumed in flames. She realized that she and Jay had shoved aside the knowledge that one of the boards had caught fire in favor of training. Even if they managed to put out the blaze now, everything inside was likely burnt to cinders and rendered useless.

"Um… Jay?"

"Yeah, Lara?"

She sent him a guilty look and gestured for him to turn around. "We never put out the cabin…"

"Don't tell me…" He groaned. "Ugh. Still, good job. You can stay with me. I'll rebuild it later," he offered.

"No, no," she said. "I, uh… this was on me. You don't have to fix this."

"No, I pushed you so hard. I got it. Let's go to my house… Uh. I'll have to make us a staircase," he told her.

She opened and then closed her mouth. It wasn't worth the argument over who would fix the cabin. She knew Jay had taken to heart that she wanted him to take responsibility, and that he knew how precious things were to her and how annoying it was to her to rebuild something she'd made – but she also knew that Jay was well-aware she wouldn't let him work alone when she was responsible for the destruction of something. Deciding to keep from starting a fight, she nodded at him and let him take her arm.


	4. Chapter Three

_**Okay, so, here's the thing. This is another "Kay completely 100% wrote this by herself as filler" chapter. Also, I also recently got a job as a copy editor for a newspaper. The newspaper has an on/off week schedule. On the off-weeks, I work Thursday and Friday. On the on-week, don't expect to hear I exist until Thusday. No, really. Monday and Tuesday might be tame since I have to have the articles given to me on those days done by 5pm on the same day, but Wednesday can go on until 10pm since that's our last day before publish and I have a major role during that day. So updates won't exist on on-weeks until Thursday at earliest, probably.**_

 _ **Also, because I mentioned I was going to work on the Charmed-verse, the Charmed-verse is going to wait until the new year. I was planning this prior to getting a job, but getting a job has definitely enforced that. Expect the next chapter of Magical Reality to be up late next week since, like I said, next week is on-week.**_

 _ **Other than that, please enjoy the chapter. I'll be putting up more one-shots soon, too. Remember for the one-shots, you can submit prompts or requests over on the GoM one-shots story.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Jace landed next to the Wizards, frowning. He'd gone to look for them in their headquarters, but their base had been empty and on the commissions booth had been a sign asking for all customers to wait because they were busy exploring one of the ruins of their previous bases. As it turned out, Jace's first instinct had been right. The Wizards were standing in the desert, looking at the spot where Jace could swear there had just hours before been a massive library.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Brute and iFirez turned to him. "It's gone," Brute answered. "How did this happen?"

"Perhaps the gods have tired of our presence?" iFirez suggested, a growl in his tone and a grimace on his face.

Jace shook his head. "No, the gods haven't," he protested, "your building isn't the first thing to vanish. It is the oldest, though."

Waglington, who was by far the Wizard Jace was most familiar with, turned then and offered Jace a more patient look than the others did. Jace knew that the others were distraught over the sudden loss of something so important to their history, but he also knew that the relationship he had with the other Wizards personally tended to rest on shaky grounds already. Lara had a better relationship with the Wizards – at least, prior to she and Jay becoming the bane of Waglington's existence at times.

"What else has vanished, Jace?" Waglington asked.

"Dec's garden, Tom's bed, enchanted books from Sonja and Tucker's, Jordan's stash of enderpearls, and mine and Jay's chat-pads," Jace recounted aloud. "I've been asking around all morning. I was going to ask you guys if you knew what was going on, but I found that note in your base."

Brute nodded. "We sensed a disturbance in magic an hour ago. We've been here since," he explained, "something very powerful is at work to have caused such a large, abrupt surge like it did. Not to mention, to have the ability to rip a building from existence…"

"It didn't take it from existence, though," Jace said, "we still remember it."

"We're older than most beings, Jace, all of us," Waglington reasoned. "We remember it. It will take longer for things to disappear from our minds since our memories are more expansive of things. The others may not."

Jace frowned. "What? No, you're—"

"What color was your chat-pad, Jace?" iFirez inquired.

"Red," Jace answered immediately. After a moment, he frowned, blinking. His stomach knotted. "No… wait, it wasn't. It was black. It was… no… I-I don't remember."

"See?" Brute said. "You had it for such a short time, that despite your status as immortal, your memories of it are fading. You can't even recall the color anymore, though that may be because the color was insignificant so much so that it was already a brief thought. Who gave it to you?"

"Dianite," he answered. "Dianite gave it to me when they were first made. Mianite gave one to Lara. Ianite never gave one 'cause she was gone, and—"

"When?" Brute asked.

"When…?" Jace narrowed his eyes, trying to remember when he had been given it. He knew it was before the Mianitees had come along, or at least the current group of them. Jay had one, too, so they must have been given a long time ago. Or maybe Void had just found one, or made one? "I don't remember," he admitted.

Waglington sighed. "That's not any good."

Jace nodded, and then shook his head, trying to ignore the distress that came with knowing his memories were being altered. "What's causing it?"

Brute shook his head. "We've no idea. As I said, it's something incredibly powerful, though," he answered.

Waglington offered a small smile and patted Jace on the shoulder. "Why don't you go check on the others, Jace? See if they've lost anything else?"

Jace hummed in agreement, kicking off of the ground. He offered the Wizards a quick smile before flying off toward the living area. The entire way, his stomach felt like he had swallowed ice-cold rocks. If he was one to admit things, he would admit that he was terrified. He was afraid of what was happening, or could happen. What would happen if people started to go missing? If the gods did? How much was this thing going to just… unmake?

He slowed down when he neared Lara and Jay's home, considering telling them what the Wizards had shared with him; however, his heart jumped in his chest when he saw flames consuming the cabin.

"Lara!"

* * *

Polaris looked up as QuickSilver reentered the bedroom with two slices of cake. She grinned. "Oh, that looks yummy," she purred, "but I don't see a fork."

"I've seen you eat steak with your bare hands," he said, "you need a fork for cake?"

She giggled. "Well, no. It just surprised me that you didn't want one."

QuickSilver shook his head, sitting down next to her on the bed. He handed her over one of the slices, and Polaris happily took it, dipping her finger in the frosting. She pulled her finger away from the cake, sticking it in her mouth. The frosting was just the right amount of sweet and cool. She hummed in delight.

"Polly."

"Hm?"

She looked up from the cake slice in her hands, and over at QuickSilver. He hadn't touched his slice yet. The somber expression on his face made her set her cake aside and shift around anxiously. "Silv… what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he answered. "What are we?"

"Enderdragons," she replied, trying to seem joking.

Her joke seemed to fall flat because QuickSilver didn't even smile. "I meant what are _we_ , Polaris?"

 _I don't get the question,_ she told Syrreth.

 _He means to ask if you are mates, hatchling,_ Syrreth chimed in.

 _Mates?_ She echoed.

 _Yes. Most creatures consider the one they share a bed with their mate. Lara and Jay, though they are not as… intimate as yourselves, would be considered mates in the world of mobs. Are you that to one another?_ Syrreth explained.

Polaris nodded her head a bit. "We're mates," she said. "Right? We love each other."

QuickSilver smiled. "I hope so."

She smiled back at him. "So, what brought this up?"

"I was thinking of how wonderful of a mother you'd make," he answered. "You know, if we ever have children."

Polaris tipped her head, but turned her attention back to the cake. "Can we even have kids? I mean, I've never heard of a Guardian having a kid – and I think, by now, Jay would've tried to get Lara to have his babies," she reasoned, putting more frosting on her finger. "I think they'd have cute kids. What about you?"

"I think we'd have beautiful children," he admitted.

Polaris' heart fluttered a bit and she looked over at him again, not sure what to say. "If you wanted them, of course," he added. "If you don't, that's not—"

"Silv, I'd love to be a mom," she told him. "And I think you'd make a kick-ass dad. If our kids would be anything like me, they'd need somebody like you in their lives to keep them calm since I couldn't do it. You can't have a ball of energy trying to calm down other balls of energy. It won't work."

He smiled at her and she smiled back before adding, "but I don't even know that I could have children. I mean, I didn't even know there could be boy dragons until you were created, and for all I know, you're the only one to have ever existed. Maybe the 'mating' feelings are just human feelings because we both have a human-form. Maybe we're not even able to reproduce, and it's just—"

"Polly."

"…What?"

He leaned forward, kissing her. "You panic too much," he said. "We can at least try. If it doesn't work, well… we'll find a way."

She nodded. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "But, Silv?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

She grinned and shoved a bit of cake in his face. "Your kiss wasn't sugary enough."


	5. Chapter Four

_**Hello, lovelies! I think I owe you three of these and one "Magical Reality" and probably some one-shots. I've been busy. Sorry. I'll be getting back to this now, though. Things shall progress on their usual schedule again now.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

Jay stopped with Lara underneath the floating islands upon which the Wizards had built his request. He stopped walking when they reached the area, realizing with some half-hearted embarrassment that he had made a miscalculation – and a very obvious one at that. Neither he, nor Lara, could fly up to the building in order to gain entry. He had led both of them to a place that was of no use.

He opened his mouth, about to turn and apologize sheepishly for dragging her so far from the cabin, but stopped himself when Ianite appeared. "Lady Ianite," he called, drawing the goddess' attention to himself.

Ianite walked over to him, offering the familiar, polite smile that Jay had become recently so used to seeing. Ianite was the kindest of the gods, and by far, the one Jay felt the most comfortable around. Ianite had become something of a mother-figure to him in the short time he had spent getting to know her properly, and when he was not with Lara or pulling a prank or visiting Polaris and QuickSilver, Jay made it a point to seek out Ianite's company. At least with her, he felt in more control of himself than he did around some of the others in the realms – mortal and immortal.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Mind getting us up there?" He inquired, offering as explanation, "minor wing malfunction."

"Ah, it's that time of year," she noted aloud, nodding and snapping her fingers.

As soon as she did, Jay felt the world shift underneath his feet – abrupt and disorienting. He watched as End particles rose up from around the two of them. Thankfully, he hadn't gotten disoriented enough to lose his balance or his breakfast, but he let out a disgruntled noise all the same.

"Oh," he groaned, "I forgot how back their transport sucked."

Next to him, Lara let out a noncommittal noise. Jay expected that was because she disliked being insulting to anyone in general. He glanced over, bracing himself for a disapproving look from the older Guardian, but Lara seemed to be oddly focused on her hands. He frowned. He knew Lara's ticks and habits – if she was nervous, she would rub her arms raw without someone to stop her; if she was angry, she would glower in silence; if she was upset, she would look away pointedly – but this wasn't a trait he recognized.

He watched her skin pale a bit and saw her expression change to one of brief pain. "Jay," she breathed, "I think I'm going to pass out…"

"What? Why?" He asked, despite reaching over to scoop her up into his arms. Looking down at her, he could see how distant her gaze was and how glazed-over the blue of her eyes seemed to be now. "Are you alright?"

"I'm just… I'm…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes closed, body falling limp.

Jay's heart thundered against his ribs. _What's going on? Lara?!_ He wondered, mind racing frantically over the events of the day. Had the training been too hard for her? Had the surge of power she let off been too much? _Please don't die, Lara, not again._

"Ianite! _Ianite!_ " He bellowed.

Ianite appeared beside him, casting a cautious glance between he and Lara. "Oh dear… Come, lay her down."

Ianite turned and opened the door, holding it for him while Jay hurriedly carried Lara to the nearest bedroom. He could hear Ianite following behind him, but he barely paid the goddess any mind. Lara was his primary concern – his only concern. Getting her to safety and ensuring that she was going to live was all he cared about.

He led Ianite to one of the bedrooms, breathing a quiet, rushed "thank you" when she held that door open for him as well. Jay settled Lara down on the bed, standing anxiously next to her as Ianite sat down, resting one of her hands softly against Lara's forehead. Jay forced himself to remember that he could hear Lara's light breathing and see her chest rising and falling, a clear indicator that she was alive.

"Her temperature is rather high," Ianite informed Jay, "her body must be exhausted."

Jay wanted to scream, but instead placed his head in his hands. "It's all my damn fault," he muttered. "So, she will be okay, right?"

"Do not blame yourself," Ianite said softly. "Lara will be fine. As her body rests, her temperature will gradually fall back to normal." She offered a smile and then continued, "and, dear boy, understand that in matters of doing what is right to protect those she cares about, Lara has never been one to be patient."

He nodded. "Thank you, Lady Ianite. You are very helpful. Leave Lara a note that I will be in the library, please, as I have no pad or pen."

Ianite nodded at him, though something crossed over her face – something akin to concern. She seemed to brush the thought aside, though, because she conjured a pad and paper, scribing down a note.

"If I may ask, what are you looking for?"

"Nothing important, milady. Just wondering is all."

Jay bowed politely to her and then walked out of the room, directing himself down the hall and toward the library. He had to distract himself, and somehow, it felt like it would be so easy to do. Despite his panic over Lara's condition and his guilt toward pushing her as far as he did, he somehow felt mildly unattached.

"Be strong, my dear, for there is so much weighing heavy on your shoulders," he heard Ianite saying. He was certain that it was directed at Lara, but it still gave him a stronger resolve as well.

 _I won't let you take over again,_ he told himself, _I'm stronger than you. And I'm going to find a way to defeat you once and for all – without involving Lara._

He wandered through the library, stopping in front of one of the shelves to skim over the titles. He pulled out a few books of mythology and lore, bringing them with him over to a chair. He flipped through the books after sitting down.

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope," he muttered uninterestedly, before humming when one book caught his attention. "Hm…"

 _Ancient Realm Mythology_ was the book's title, and inside was a full table of contents that discussed different matters of lore and mythos, a collection written by various scholars over the centuries. Most of the stories were praising Mianite and Dianite for their war efforts. Some praised Ianite for her good nature, but more often they spoke of the mysteries surrounding the goddess who had been missing for quite some time. Only one or two of the stories even held mention of Void, but none were too descript about him. Some mentioned a partner-in-crime of his, who Jay assumed was Chaos based upon the description, but the strangest thing was that the documents mentioned the woman being absent and inactive for centuries. Had Chaos disappeared for some time, and only recently shown herself again?

"Hmph. These are pretty boring. None of these seem to mention how," he muttered to himself.

"To do what?"

Jay jumped backward and out of his chair, startled by the goddess' sudden appearance. "Lady Ianite?" He asked. "Were you spying?"

 _I can't even trust you to be good?_ He wondered.

She offered him a guilty, apologetic look. "I'm afraid my curiosity got the better of me," she offered. "Do not worry, Jay, I will not tell my brothers. If they wish to know of anything you find, they will ask you themselves. You have trusted me with blessing your choice to rise as a god, but you will not trust me with this knowledge?"

"It's not that I didn't trust you. Up to now," he told her. "I was researching the defeat of Void the first time. Doesn't matter now, does it?"

She frowned, but Jay noted that her expression lacked judgement. "I am not certain why I have earned your distrust, but you are entitled to mistrust gods more than anyone. Just know that, unlike my brothers, I wish you and Lara the best. I hope this does not end in tears. You have both been through so much."

Jay didn't offer a response, so Ianite drew her gaze away from him and down to the book. "But why would you feel the need to research his defeat when you know that we had all believed it to have worked, and been wrong?"

"Because Void doesn't lose and come back eons later. He keeps attacking until he wins – unless something forced him under. Something powerful. Something we need to amplify," he explained. "Now you know. I will be in my room. Please do refrain from teleporting in."

He grabbed the book of mythology from the desk and stomped out of the library. Jay was vaguely away of the doors slamming shut loudly behind him, despite him never laying a finger on them and it being very unlike Ianite to show such anger. Part of him was aware that the scene didn't bode well for his control, but he felt so distant from Void still. He still felt in control, and the sight of Lara still resting on the bed when he entered the room, looking barely better, reminded him of why he couldn't afford to lose himself to Void.

Jay sat down in a chair next to the bed, flipping through the book's pages rapidly. "Fought together… blah, blah, blah… ugh," he muttered, stopping when he got to something interesting. "Wait… those damned idiots."

He got back to his feet. According to the book, there was a second in the series that continued on discussion of Void. It was perfect. His head was filled with different scenarios, but one stood out as the most plausible – that the gods were selfish fools who thought that they had the power to do whatever the pleased.

 _I just need to finish reading it, and then we can do this._

* * *

"Jay..." Lara mumbled, opening her eyes a bit. She squinted, horribly aware of how bright everything was. Her limbs were weighed down by the exhaustion that had abruptly swept over her, as though Ianite teleporting them had been the final straw that had broken her ability to remain conscious.

She shut her eyes, trying to stave off the throbbing behind her eyes and at the base of her skull, and only opened her eyes again when she felt someone sit on the bed. Immediately, she tried to search for the figure. She couldn't clearly make them out, though. They were a mass of colors – black, blue, purple. Her mind searched for why Jay would be wearing purple, but she recalled that Ianite had been present with them earlier. Perhaps it was Ianite?

She made a questioning sound up at the figure, but was shushed.

"Hush, sweet girl," the figure purred, "go to sleep. Your body still has to rest before all of your energy returns."

Lara felt her eyelids beginning to fall, as if the figure had put some command into her mind that she didn't feel quite like fighting. Sleep sounded wonderful. Rest would make her feel better, and perhaps when she woke, she would wake to find Jay in the room. He was likely extremely concerned about her.

As she felt herself beginning to doze, she felt warmth pool into her chest as her energy collected around her center. Before her eyes could close completely, she realized that the figure was becoming more solid and clear, though it felt like the world around her was becoming more distant and dull, and the warmth in her chest was slowly beginning to cool to an uncomfortable degree.


	6. Chapter Five

_**Alright, so I've been busy. There's the excuse. Enjoy it!**_

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

Jay signed and tossed the book aside, walking from the library back to the bedroom. He had to check on Lara, as it was likely Ianite had left. Part of him didn't want to be angry at the goddess, but it was hard not to feel wary. Mianite and Dianite would have been furious if they found him researching anything and questioning their work, and while Ianite was likely truthful about lacking judgement and having more concern for his and Lara's safety, Jay just didn't want the gods involved. Their failure to solve the issue with Void meant now that Void could come back.

 _But if they hadn't screwed up, would I be here…?_ He wondered, before forcing the thought aside and opening the door to the bedroom.

Lara was lying on the bed where he had left her, looking a bit less comfortable than she had when he'd last been in the room with her. He frowned, brushing her hair aside and putting his palm to her forehead. Her temperature was still elevated – thankfully, not as high as it had previously been, but still high enough that it was of concern to him.

She opened her eyes, pain and discomfort still quite visible in them. The blue was a bit darker than it usually was, and seemed almost to linger closer to a shade of indigo. Jay forced himself to ignore the oddity and the strange way she cast her gaze around. It was likely an effect of her exhaustion.

"Head 'urts," she whimpered up at him.

Jay nodded, sitting down next to her. "It's alright," he soothed, "just an aftereffect, Lara."

 _It's so strange to hear you whining about pain,_ he thought before correcting himself, _whimpering about pain. Not whining. Whimpering. Dammit._

Lara hummed quietly and then shut her eyes, squirming a bit. "Hot…"

He managed a small smile before getting up, fetching an icepack to set gently next to her. "Thanks," he said cheekily.

"Where did you go?" She asked.

"To the library," he answered, humming thoughtfully. "If you take a fish out of water and throw it back in, what happens?"

Lara's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"If a fish. Gets take out of water, and thrown back in quick enough. What happens?" He repeated slower.

She shook her head at him. "I don't know," she mumbled, "w-why would you… do that to the fish…?"

"No fucking loopholes, Lara," he joked. "Point is it survives."

"What does that have to do with anything?" She inquired.

He opened the book he was reading and held it closer to her so she could see the pages, as best she likely could in her state. He trailed his finger along one line from the text. "Void was born of pure Void energy," he read. He stopped his finger at another line and continued, "Before Void died, the gods cursed him to suffer death in the Void."

She nodded silently, likely to acknowledge she'd heard him. He added, "Imagine Void as the chat-pad, and the Void as the charger for it."

"He… kept healing," she guessed.

Jay nodded. "Bingo."

Lara frowned. "So… the gods knew what would happen?" She asked. "They knew they could do nothing?"

 _Don't sound so defeated,_ he wanted to say. _I need you to be strong, Lara. Now isn't the time to give up. Don't be like Mianite and resign yourself to this!_

He shrugged. He couldn't fault the gods for their own arrogance. They had been stupid to think Void would die in his own realm, but Mianite and Dianite were overly proud and thought too highly of themselves to realize something so obvious.

"No, I don't believe so. They weren't thinking things through, but not on purpose. Who would want that bastard back?" He said, getting to his feet with a sigh. He started pacing the room, adding, "Well, we just have to keep him out of the Void. That much is clear. Maybe if we trap him somewhere else?"

"But… where?" Lara wondered. When she winced, Jay turned his attention over to her, noticing that she was sat up and blinking, likely to clear her vision. "We can't trap him in the Overworld. He'd cause too many problems. And Dianite would never let us use the Nether. The End is just another part of the Void."

Jay sighed again. "That's basically the problem I'm having. I needed to figure out… _pirates!_ They said something about dimensional travel?"

"How did you—?"

"I told you. I can see what happens while I'm in the Void. I saw the pirates when they first came to the Overworld."

She nodded, and Jay continued, "If we trap him somewhere in a different realm, he won't have any powers, as they typically don't carry over. At least, I think."

Lara shook her head. "No, that's not true. Our powers are weaker if we're somewhere that doesn't work well for us. The Aether would weaken you, for example."

When he didn't say anything, she frowned. "I-Ianarea, though? But… that's Lady Ianite's home, and they've only just begun rebuilding it from the damages Dianite did to it. He may be weaker there because the Void shares less of a connection to that place, but…"

He nodded. "Yeah, but that's the beauty in it. He'd have more trouble doing anything in the other realm. As I said, powers don't carry over _well_ ," he reminded her.

 _But someone is going to have to force Void there, and it's going to have to be me,_ he lamented inwardly.

"We'd have to convince the pirates to help us, then – and that will take a lot more gold than we have," she pointed out, before seeming to absently say, "we'd probably have to take every single piece of gold from Mianite's temple to convince them."

"Well, not a bad idea, I admit. Maybe the pirates can be convinced?" He said with a sneaky smirk, still pacing the floor of the room. He cracked his knuckles. "Tharrr be some problems if they don't let us. This affects them as much as us, though I am not against the Mianite thing. For the record. Plus, we have the perfect excuse. Maybe Jace will help with that."

"Captain Capsize will shoot you in the face," Lara warned. "You can't just convince them with brute strength – and if you damage their property, they won't help us at all."

She offered a small shrug and added, "If Jace stole from Mianite, he would be back in Dianite's good graces, but he'd have to find a way to compensate for the gold before he could ever hope to set foot in the Overworld without Mianite smiting him where he stood."

"Maybe Waglington will help," he said. "The Wizards are probably willing to supply their endless amounts of gold to help us? After all, they don't, no more business. I mean, if we can trap him in Ianarea, he can't escape, he can't use powers. No drawbacks, so, Ianite will be willing, most likely. Plus, Capsize should know better."

"No," Lara said immediately. "I think we've put poor Waglington through enough recently. Maybe… we could just… ask for the gold from the temple? Mianite might give it to us, if he knows how important it is. If I ask, he'll likely listen to me and then I can just find some way to get it back to him."

Jay sat down on the edge of the bed. "He might not appreciate you siding with me, Lara. Better to ask Waglington than get you in trouble," he told her, offering a small shrug. "Maybe, if we can figure out _how_ the pirates do it instead of wasting resources, they might listen. Not too much gold – a few blocks. Pirates are barterers. They like to make a deal. S'all I got."

She frowned at him. "I told you that we'd deal with this together, not apart. Mianite will have to cope with that because I'd rather not ask Waglington for any more favors. Every time we've asked him for something, one of us is upset with him after."

He nodded. "Might as well. Seems like the logical thing to do, although myself and Jace might have to do a raid at the Mianite temple one night," he said with a smile. "Uh, we can go later when you feel better. Just lay down. I will be in the library."

He got to his feet, nearly flinching when he felt something cold burrow into his chest. "If a god visits, tell them I'm not plotting," he directed. Even to him, his voice sounded demanding, cold, bitter – and everything he had grown to hate about Void.

 _Am I even me anymore…?_


End file.
